Above the Trees

Notes from the Salt Lake Family History Expo, Day 1

I occasionally read Beowulf in Old English. Out loud. For fun.

So when I saw The Chicken Walked Here: Principles & Procedures for Learning to Read Germanic & Scandinavian Gothic Script listed in the Salt Lake Family History Expo syllabus, I did a little happy dance. It spoke both to my Prussian roots and my Jeopardy gene.

This class was taught by Ruth Ellen Maness, AG, Senior Research Consultant, Scandinavian Reference at the LDS Family History Library, and quintessential expert on the subject. Ruth describes the principles driving the understanding of Gothic Script thus:

1. You learn to read Gothic Script by reading it.
2. You learn to read Gothic Script by writing it.

• Use of the Gothic Script writing style, used primarily in the German and Scandinavian states, began in the 900’s, and continued well into the 1940's, when Adolf Hitler is credited with instituting a state enforced ban on its use.
  
• Fun with Gothic Script...e's look like n's. K's look like R's. h's can look like f's. Q's & K's are interchangeable.
• More fun: S's differ in shape and size based on their position in word – beginning, middle, or end - but are not mutually exclusive.